Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Photo: Meet the Press)
Feb. 20, 2019 By Christian Murray
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired back at her critics yesterday after being attacked by financial commentators and fellow Democrats for allegedly not understanding how the Amazon tax incentives were structured and for lacking pragmatism.
The criticism grew over the weekend following an interview by Chuck Todd of Meet The Press that raised doubts as to her grasp of the proposed deal.
In it, Ocasio-Cortez said: “If we’re willing to give away $3 billion dollars for this deal, we could invest those $3 billion dollars in our district ourselves if we wanted to.” She added: “We could hire more teachers. We can fix our subways. We can put a lot of people to work for that money if we wanted to.”
Critics argued that it indicated that she lacked an understanding of how the incentives worked and that she believed that there was a pot of money that could now be spent with the deal being off.
Meanwhile, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney argued in a CNN interview that progressives, such as Ocasio-Cortez, were not thinking clearly. Maloney, who represents Long Island City, was baffled by the opposition, given that 25,000 jobs were on offer paying an average of $150,000 per year.
“I am progressive too, but I am pragmatic,” she said. “It used to be that we would protest wars, now we are protesting jobs.”
“They [the progressives] just said we don’t want it and demonstrated against it—but it’s jobs and I have not seen anything like it,” Maloney said. She added: “If this had gone through it would have made – overnight – New York City the high tech capital of the east coast.”
The deal, as critics pointed out, required Amazon to build a campus and create the jobs in order for the tax breaks to kick in. Bill de Blasio on Meet the Press indicated that many progressives didn’t understand how the $3 billion in tax incentives worked.
Most of the tax breaks were based on job creation. For instance, Amazon was projected to receive a $1.4 billion tax credit from New York City as part of a program that incentivizes companies to bring jobs to areas outside Manhattan’s central business district. The company was also likely to get $1.2 billion in tax credits via the state’s Excelsior Jobs Program and a $500 million capital grant.
Ocasio-Cortez shot back in a series of tweets, critical of those who questioned her intellect and understanding of the deal.
Frankly, the knee-jerk reaction assuming that I “don’t understand” how tax giveaways to corps work is disappointing.
No, it’s not possible that I could come to a different conclusion. The debate *must* be over my intelligence & understanding, instead of the merits of the deal.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019
She then criticized Amazon and government officials for shutting out the community when they stitched the deal together. She also noted many residents who live near the proposed campus site would have been priced out and noted Amazon’s questionable record of working with ICE.
There’s NO WAY that this deal – one of the biggest giveaways in state history – could possibly have been bad, right?
Surely there can’t be anything wrong with suddenly announcing a massive restructuring & pricing out of a community without any advance notice or input from them.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019
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129 Comments
AOC said….“If we’re willing to give away $3 billion dollars for this deal, we could invest those $3 billion dollars in our district ourselves if we wanted to.”
Now she backpedals and tries to make it sound like she was only questioning the $500 million in capital grants, with comments like “is it fair to question why we don’t use the capital for public use”. NO!! Her original comment is clear. She says we can invest that $3billion…..She clearly thought $3 billion was money on the table. She was an idiot who didn’t understand the concept when she said it in Feb2019, and she is an idiot now in Feb2021.
If AOC is representative of the intelligence of the new democratic party, GOD HELP US !
I believe AOC, pure and simple, has zero grasp of economics. Who in the would would not give 3 billion in Tax Credits to an opportunity, that would of provided 27 billion back in revenue for the City of New York.
If an entity proved to me, that if I gave them $3 dollars and the the entity would give me back $27 dollars, how many times would you take the deal?
Only a person, who has no understanding of economics would turn this down.
Isn’t AOC responsible for penning the Green New Deal? Yep, and this is the same person who can do this Green Deal without affecting Americas financial future.
WOW men denegrading a strong intelligent smart powerful young woman!
Her 3 houses of congress and occupation of Palestine by Israel says a box of rocks IS Smarter
Said nobody ever about AOC…
Thank God that I don’t live in New York. I visited there when I was in the Navy stationed in New London, Connecticut and that visit alone made me thankful that I live west of the Mississippi.,
AOC and the other new brats on the hill are the Spawn of Chuck, Nancy and their ilk! They were so busy trying to take down a duly elected president that they were blindsided. Now they look like they want to cry every time they come in front of a camera because they are realizing that they are loosing power. However, with the new scandal in AOC’s camp, one wonders if she has big tech money behind her?!?! (or Soros) That being said, Amazon chooses properties near the ‘Hood so they can hire slaves at minimum wage. The new transplants are the ones that would have gotten the higher paying jobs. They are so proud of being NY’er’s all of their 6 months of residency here. Bezos was shamed into giving his workers a raise to $15. Some of his employees needed to apply for food stamps. Hypocrisy on all sides!
You understand that they weren’t planning on building an amazon distribution center right? This was going to the an IT campus.. These jobs are not $15/per for unskilled labor..
Who builds the campus? How amy high paying jobs were lost from building the campus? How many new businesses were never opened up to support the campus and all the jobs that would of come from these new businesses? How much in taxes did NY City lose from this venture not happening?
How many great and new programs that could of been developed or implemented for people who are need from these taxes?
How much, how many…was lost?
She’s dumb and dumberer…
Worse than a box of rocks. At least rocks will leave you alone…
AOC is an idiot who has no idea how the real world work. Just like the idiots who voted for her. Socialist propaganda at its best.
I would question her ability to comprehend anything…
She absolutely IS speaking about something she is unknowledgable, and then OBVIOUSLY back-peddling. Even if you are ignorant to the idea that COMMUNISM STILL DOESN’T WORK and you are acting on pure heart…. I get that. Lying to hide the fact you know its rubbish, thats something else. How can you follow someone who would literally speak nonsense on a matter and has stated her agenda which would be chock full of the start of some sort of wealth redistribution….. These democrats are evil and will kill you in my areas…..no joke
Ignorant !
There is no $3B sitting somewhere that you can use. That will come from Amazon.
Respect your seniors !
Dont waste ur time she is a moron but i did wake up now im voting see even an idiot has a good lol
From your writing it appears you say you voted for AOC. Also from your abilities/lack there of you have not wised up yet. Your just as slow as AOC.
You’re*
You are correct, that is life. It goes on and will hopefully improve for you, me and everyone else in our community. But my statement holds true whether or not Amazon is here.
*this was meant to be a reply to ‘trumptardsarehilarious’
There’s a reason that people should value experience, attention to detail and thorough thought when evaluating leaders. Talk is cheap. This dope proves how dangerous it is to have a big mouth unclear thinker as a leader.
I’ll take the bet from anyone that 20 years from now, Amazon’s market cap is multiples of what it is at today. As for Long Island City, I’ll make the bet with anyone that the neighborhoods who needed Amazon the most will look multiples worse in 20 years. In the meantime, there will be a lot of promises that sounded enticing but just drifted away due to people like AOC with individual political ambitions to not have a voter base who can see through her negligent thinking. Its the communities responsibility to look for better leaders.
Oh, wait…as I read your first paragraph, I thought you were talking about the president.
Amazon would have been great for LIC, just the same way that a Prime™ membership includes FREE Two-Day Shipping and instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows.
Here are the facts about what will now happen at the Anable Basin site based on plans that were previously in place:
4,995 more luxury residential units (~7,500 more residents with zero infrastructure/subway improvements)
1,250 of them will be “affordable” (please – you can’t afford these on minimum wage)
Developers get a 15 year tax abatement (that essentially means zero tax revenue for the city for 15 years)
“Hundreds” of light industrial jobs (read: low skill, minimum wage jobs)
After 15 years, they can increase the affordable units to market prices
And that is only Phase 1 of a 15-year build-out – which you know will probably take more like 30 years. (School doesn’t get build until probably tail end of that 15 years)
At the end of the 15 years, they hope to have created 2,200 – 2,600 of these new low wage jobs.
Estimated annual economic output after the 15 years is $450mm. NOTE – this is not tax revenue, just economic output. Tax revenue from this plan would be something considerably less.
These are the facts. And the net gain here pales in comparison to the net gain in the proposed Amazon plan. These are the facts – no denying them.
Compared to the Amazon deal, I would take Amazon all day every day.
By saying no to Amazon, we are effectively saying yes to this other plan.
I wonder if those who were so vocally against Amazon will be vocally against this deal. And I wonder of Jimmy and Mike will be just as critical now about this deal as they were of Amazon.
Amazon would have given low wage jobs to locals and imported hipsters to fill the high salary positions. The locals would be priced out by the hipsters with robot dogs.
…and whats wrong with this exactly? You’re not entitled to living here just because you already live here. Times and economics change. That’s life.
Yes, Amazon isn’t building HQ2 here anymore. That’s life.
Lower paying jobs for lower skilled workers that need it and are not qualified for higher paying jobs is a fact of life everywhere in the world.
If they were highly skilled, they would already be working a highly skilled job/profession.
In fact, residents at the Queensbridge Houses (which is the largest housing project development in the Western Hemisphere) were decidedly FOR Amazon. So, don’t pretend like you know what’s best for locals.
Amazon would have tried to fill as many of the high salary positions with locals – this is true of any prudent business. The cost to move that many existing employees across the country is high (moving costs, time off work, real estate assistance with existing homes, etc.). Amazon would have tried to hire as many people it could have without having to incur these expenses. That means hiring people that are already here.
But yes, this also means many new, young people moving to NY because they want to work at Amazon – that is not a bad thing. It brings disposable income and means more jobs for both low and high skilled workers. Perhaps that could have helped to reverse the max exodus of skilled workers happening in NYC right now.
Also, these new “hipsters” probably would have lived in Manhattan and reverse commuted in. Sorry, but most young techies with money don’t want to live in Queens.
Amazon no good. I want high pay job with no skill . Amazon should give me high pay job with no skill because I nice person. Why all high pay job go to hippy. Votar democratic. Get free stuff Very good to get free stuff
“reverse the max exodus of skilled workers happening in NYC right now.” Really? Where’s your source? Your butt?
US Census
Where’s your source saying otherwise?
Which US Census? You have a link?
How did she win and who voted look into that i know nyers are alot smarter then califidiots
As of now, the land is just sitting there doing nothing. Jobs for anyone at all in NY (low or high wage) = 0. Income to the residents, city, and state, also a big fat zero. How is that for a great deal?
I dont see what all the fuss is about. I suspect that most if not all of the people posting here voted for democrats. The entire city and state are run by democrats. They were all elected on platforms based on eliminating income inequality. So I dont see what the problem is. What did you expect? They are doing what they told us they would do. If you disagree with their policies your only recourse is to vote them out. I suspect there is a slim to zero chance of a change in party politics in this city. So I suggest you accept reality, be prepared to move to another place , or remain a very unhappy person because it is very likely political decisions will continue to be very progressive in this city.
Yes, but what’s frustrating is the infighting within the party. Carolyn Maloney and AOC are worlds apart, but in the same party. I find Maloney to be more agreeable.
What’s more frustrating is that AOC doesn’t even represent LIC. She should focus on her own district and let Maloney focus on ours.
Yeah, and almost the entire city and state were onboard with Amazon in LIC. You have to admit though, as good as Amazon would have been, Bezos is a total scum bag.
HAHAHA! Thank god Amazon is not coming here.
As someone who’s been keeping tabs on all of this, reading some of the comments here is like reading the comments of naive children, the type that think the “nice man with the candy” is going to take them “someplace nice.”
Fools, everyone. Look up Amazon’s history. It has screwed over and exploited every party it has ever worked with, including Birkenstock, USPS and independent sellers. Look up the Birkenstock lawsuit it launched against Amazon, see what a “trustworthy” company it is. Look up its deal with the USPS. See how it treated its independent sellers. See how it’s treating its workers.
As for de Blasio and Cuomo, they were voted into office by their cronies in real estate, and their entire goal since being elected has been to hand over all of NYC piecemeal to developers to turn all of it into Dubai 2.0. De Blasio became so desperate to gentrify Crown Heights, cronies working in HPD started illegally seizing properties under “Third Party Transfer” and handing them over to developers.
So, rest assured–HQ2 was not a deal for NYC. It was a deal negotiated between de Blasio/Cuomo’s cronies in real estate and Amazon. Big Development was going to use the arrival of Amazon employees as an excuse to rezone and tear down all of LIC for luxury development; Amazon was going to get billions of dollars in incentives. On top of that, its employees were going to get a piece of the real estate pie. If you don’t think so, why were Amazon employees snapping up property left and right months before HQ2 was announced and Amazon was still pretending it hadn’t decided which city was going to pick? Because Amazon employees were fed insider information by de Blasio/Cuomo’s cronies to buy in early.
The point is that, it’s the height of obliviousness to argue about what NYC “missed out on.” If you really and honestly thought that Amazon acted in good faith, you are beyond help.
So instead Anable Basin will have 4, maybe 6 LUXURY towers filled with, far more than 25k people, built by developers not contributing with their taxes and certainly not doing anything to improve our already taxed transportation or school issues. But, yeah, let’s take that $3B in imaginary money and make everything super duper!
6 luxury buildings would have maybe 2,500 people with disposable income. I find it funny that everyone wants these high paying, young tech jobs crammed into millions of square feet of waterfront commercial space with a loud, dirty heliport but seem to despise the hard working, quiet upper middle-class families who live here now.
We should just give billionaires like Bezos whatever they ask for, what’s so hard for AOC to understand about that?! I’m sure they’re concerned for the well-being of Queens’ middle class, It’s worked great with Trump.
Just like Trump, Cortez uses Twitter to gain popularity. Just like Trump, Cortez uses Twitter to attack people with alternative facts. Trump tells me that Mexico will pay for the wall and Cortez tells me that we have $3 billion left over because Amazon left. From now on, I’m voting independent!
count me in this politician all are liars wants they grab the position there are in heaven
they start to fight all the negative question the people ask they get defensive
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is fighting against socialism for the rich, fighting against the scam of trickle-up economics, fighting against giving tax breaks (AND grants) to the richest man in the world – instead of giving these tax breaks to the regular working people and small businesses in our City.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is fighting against secret undemocratic backroom deals imposed on the community, deals that would have brought in a union-busting behemoth that refused to listen to community concerns, a behemoth taht should be broken up instead, like we did with the trusts of a prior era, and for the same reasons.
In a city run by real estate developers, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saw this as a victory of people power, of organizing, of community – against a big corporate bully who doesn’t want to be scrutinized or criticized – a big bully and who refused to play ball with the community, and then abruptly & arrogantly walked away with the ball.
Bezos is not accustomed to people and politicians standing up to him, and rightfully telling him that if you come here you play by our rules, as part of an open public process. So he turned tail and ran when we would not bow, grovel and genuflect. Arrogant Amazon showed us that it would not have been a good neighbor & partner. Instead, it would have been bad for worker’s rights, bad for democracy and democratic input, and definitely bad for the free & competitive market.
You can’t separate ends and means. For the means we use & the path we take either dilute or poison or subvert the ends we seek, or they uplift & embody & enrich our goals. In other words, the issue is NOT be all about the Benjamins, the issue is NOT all about seeking jobs at any cost or consequence, from any source, no matter its practices. It needs to be more than that. It needs to be about how we get to our goals. It needs to be about values. It needs to be about community. It needs to be about corporate responsibility. It need to be about open democratic processes. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fully understands this, as she works to make her progressive views benefit all the people of this City, not just the ultra-rich in a rigged system. At 29 years of age she is far wiser than many of her name-calling critics.
That was a lot of fluff, but please just stick with the facts.
– 25,000 jobs lost all making $150k
– LIC now and will continue to be mostly empty.
– MTA has no money to fix/upgrade infrastructure now
– Local businesses would have thrived on the massive increase in foot traffic
– The influx of higher earners would have indirectly elevated the lifestyle of the surrounding neighborhoods — students with higher earning families; more money for the PTA, more spending for local businesses.
But no, all you socialists only care about your student rent and union jobs. Union jobs are probably the reason why nothing ever gets done. They keep milking over times.
Get ready for more homeless shelters and jails.
It doesn’t matter if she is smarter than average 29 years-old. We don’t lower the standards because she is young. Not all 29 year old people can make such damage.
Hey-Kool Aid!!!!!! Chug-a-lug Stan.
Wow Stan Chaz – you should be a speech writer for some typical politician who is always saying feel-good stuff like this, but in the end has zero substance and zero utility.
You say you want to give “tax breaks to regular working people and small businesses…” Great idea – we are all for it. How should we do that? State is already running on deficit… How else can we offset working family and small business tax revenues? Should we increase property taxes? Nah, that will just increase rents. Should we shut down the MTA and some schools? I know, we should diversify our tax base by bringing in a large corporate to pay income taxes! That should allow us to ease the tax burden on working families and small businesses… oh wait.
You say “AOC is fighting against secret undemocratic backroom deals.” I think people forget – the United States of America is not a TRUE democracy. There is no nation on earth that is a true democracy because a true democracy is inefficient and impractical. We live in a Republic where we elect representatives to speak and serve on our behalf in government. I’m not a big Cuomo or de Blasio fan – but working behind the scenes to create opportunities for its people is exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. If want a government where everyday citizens cast a vote on every issue, all progress would grind to a halt.
You say it is “a city run by real estate developers.” Who are the ones that approve these real estate deals laden with tax subsidies and abatements? Your elected officials such as JVB and Gianaris. I give AOC a break on this since she’s new.
I could go on and on, although I agree with some of your points about Amazon turning its tail.
Your speech is great, but it offers no practical solution or even a good “next step” towards this “open democratic process” or the “means” we should take to achieve the “ends we seek.”
What are some concrete steps we and our elected officials should take now? What is the new plan? Will you hold our elected officials just as accountable to reaching the “ends” using the the proper “means?” Look forward to hearing from you and others who have ideas.
I wouldn’t say AOC is wiser. I think she is more idealistic – which is not a bad thing. But wiser? No. She’s an ideas and ideals person – which is also not a bad thing, but what I feel is lacking is pragmatism. I think she would be a far more effective and compelling representative if her ideas came with some realistic plan of action. For example, we can’t just give a normal living wage to everyone that is “unwilling” to work (as she proposes in her New Green Deal). Let’s be real.
Beautifully Said
AOC, is that you??
i think AOC has some good ideas and she’s not the same old same old but her inexperience and lack of economics shows.. and this not a criticism of her past but even when she was a bartender there’s a period called trailing when you follow someone with experience to learn how things work.. yes sucks losing 25000 jobs but indeed they would have come with a price.. as for AOC it’s might be best for he to pick her battles and think before she speaks.. in the end though i do believe she will survive and do well..
All I see in the discussions and from the politicians are essentially similar ideas as “America First”. Very disappointing. You are building a wall, you declare victory and you think you are saving your people.
So which country do your propose should come first in USA ? Mexico ? If Mexico is so great then why don’t you live there ? Oh right because it sucks there. I wonder why that is? Could it be because the people aren’t smart ? How about other Latin countries . Are any of them successful ?
AOC, I am a Trump Supporter BUT for this specific issue I APPLAUD YOU. You are the ONLY who GOT IT RIGHT. The Amazon move all was going to bring to LIC was a local INFLATION and NO BENEFIT at all. HIGH Real Estate Prices for those they own, HIGH RENTS for the thousands of locals that now are struggling to pay their rent now. OK Restaurants were going to benefit. But the DAMAGE done was going to be much much more. Bill De Blasio and Mario Cuomo are the worst that ever happened to New York. AMAZON should have contributed to the infrastructure of the area and not accept to pocket billions.
i only gave you a thumbs up because i agree De Blasio and Cumo are the worse
you mean, they should have contributed without even coming to LIC? and why would they do it, exactly?
the only thing Ms. OC gets right is the way she “fires back” – loud, with sarcastic questions and shoulder shrugging…
what a travesty. and that’s who represents New York. oh, well, I guess we deserve it…
As a lifelong Democrat the likes of AOC has now changed my outlook completely, this woman is an idiot of the highest caliber, a complete economic imbecile, I will never vote for a democrat again, from now I will vote Republican, at least they know how to run a business, unlike AOC who should be an advocate for soup kitchens.
George..seems like you are just thinking about you how about the 25,ooo jobs now lost how about the local businesses who lost all that potential how about all the storefronts that are now empty..and will stay that way!! 25,000 jobs at an average of $100,000 is $2,500,000,000 in individual income that
generates taxes yearly or approx $700,000,000 in tax revenue yearly…
Yadda, yadda, yadda…job killer.
Now the proposed Amazon site will remain barren & empty, until a real estate developer comes along promising a handful of “affordable” apartments, in return for massive tax breaks.
Look at the plans that were drawn up prior to the Amazon announcement. They were going to build more residential there – with tax abatements! So, I don’t know the who the ~16 people thus far who voted “thumbs down” to astoriatom’s post, but those are the facts and you can’t refute them.
AOC’s anti-business rhetoric is not only killing job opportunities for Queens. Her DemSocialist fever is spreading across the country. What a gift to the GOP.
The problem with most people and esp. politicians is that they only see black or white while rarely in life things are just black or white. I am a register Democrat and I think the amazon deal could had been win win for all parties involved. Ocasio (and the rest of the politicians) will be just fine whether the deal had gone through or failed. They wanted to make a point at the expense of the majority and they won. While some minority agrees with their actions, they have still failed the people and that will not be forgotten.
The voters aren’t stupid. As Cortez went into great detail demonstrating her lack of understanding of the deal means she’s finished. #yourefired
It is disheartening to see so many posters throw out the word “idiot” when commenting on AOC’s position. Why is there not a single poster who used “idiot” to describe all of the males involved in this situation? Misogyny reins. While I would have liked to have Amazon build HQ2 in LIC, I think much of the blame goes to Amazon. They did not defend their position or offer compromise. They picked up their ball and left the playground. Most of the large corporations in the Western World are poor stewards of resources including employees. Amazon is no better and no worse. If Amazon had been allowed to build HQ2 in LIC and then the community raged against them for being poor stewards of resources, there was an opportunity to change the culture of the company. Now, they will simply go where there is no community to insist that they change the culture of the company. They will continue on their merry way destroying the lives of their employees and citizens in general. We all lost.
Henry
I agree with you they are all idiots, male or female. Instead of working with Amazon all they did was criticize and they left…a d why wouldn’t they. Why would you spend the money to create jobs and strengthen the local economy in a hostile environment.
Are you suggesting that because she’s a woman that she can’t take the criticism and we should be softer on her?
Gianaris and Bramer led the charge against Amazon and calling them idiots would be a complement. These politicians gave away 25,000 jobs because they feared Cortez. Gianaris and Bramer are traitors and need to be voted out!
“poor stewards of resources”
You are apparently well trained in SWJ speak
I can’t believe the nerve of these soshalist libruls. Only billionaires like Bezos and Trump know what’s best for Queens, not local residents like AOC. Venezuela hillary’s emails.
AOC is not a local resident, and does not represent the district involved. You are almost as informed as AOC.
AOC was born in NYC but isn’t a wasn’t a local resident? Ok…
She is not a resident of LIC (local) and she does not represent the district. Ok…
She will never represent the working class the way our billionaire game show host president does
I understand she was just trying to protect people, but being a politician, she should really have checked her facts and understood that $3 billion tax breaks, doesn’t mean we have $3 billion to spend. I think this misconception has fool a lot of people and I’m hearing people spewing this as a fact that we can spend it on the Subway system.
There are no winners with this situation, but Long Island City will be fine, just will take a bit longer to progress.
allow me to respond to your comment long island will take a lot of year to progress
a lot and also queens it been like this for years queens is one of the borough that never
has any progress and to have a congresswoman that doesn’t understand politics just trying to show off and dedicate to spend her time on twitter like the president instead of learning the way to work on Washington on our behalf and progress
As a Jackson Heights resident, I have about 25,000 reasons to be upset the Amazon deal fell through.
for the people who honestly believe that amazon was going to bring in 25,000 new jobs, are deluded, most of those jobs were already going to be filled BEFORE they moved into amazon, how do i know? most of those jobs were high paying jobs, the 125K jobs. which means a chunk of those already hired high level employees would be moving to sunnyside, long island city, astoria. the rest of the jobs were not high level and we already know they dont pay all that much, what, a minimum of $15 the hour. the deal was going to fail from the beginning, the fact that all these people were against it proves it. ya’ll are complaning about how shitty the 7 train is, do you have any idea how much more insane our morning commute would of been? where are we fitting all these people in our small sunnyside community, let alone the neighboring cities? it would of raised rent, which shocking is already way too high even for those of low income roots. i mean ya’ll remember that new apt building on 49th and queens blvd that was offering low income people a one bedroom apt for 2700 dollars? imagine how much more it would of raised it when amazon was here. if we’re giving all these tax breaks to amazon had they come, who was going to pay tax? amazon wasnt, cuz of what was stated, but the tax is pushed onto who really in the end? our failing subway system etc. also, remind me how amazon didnt pay any taxes to the government last year? how does a billion dollar company NOT PAY ANY TAXES FOR 2018!
Amazon didn’t pay much or any corporate tax because they fully reinvested in the company’s expansion. Same reason Netflix didn’t have any tax due last year, either. As these companies further mature they’ll reslize earnings and pay taxes on them.
Cortez says ICE practices factored into her thinking? Pathetic. She needs to shut up and let the adults determine these important matters.
you big mad.
Yep. She just blew through biggest deal of the decade. Career. Over.
Your rant is illogical and full of misinformation.
You were undoubtedly duped by the likes of AOC into thinking we had $3bn lying around to spend – just like you were undoubtedly duped by headlines and twitter rants saying Amazon didn’t pay taxes in 2018.
If you weren’t such a dope, you would have actually read carefully and found that Amazon didn’t pay any FEDERAL tax as a result of the accounting and new tax code – they are simply following the rules like any corporation does.
If you were financially literate (and smart enough to actually look at their financials instead of simply reciting dopey headlines and twitter rants), you would have further found that Amazon actually paid hundreds of millions of dollars in state taxes last year. This is actually pretty substantial considering the state of Washington does not have a state income tax. This means they paid hundreds of millions in taxes in the other states where they operate and are subject to income tax – something New York will not benefit from anymore. They also paid hundreds of millions in taxes abroad in countries where they operate outside of the US. So, yes, Amazon does pay taxes where it is required to.
So, please do your homework before spreading more misinformation. Sloppy, uneducated comments from uneducated people like you only fuel the fire that make dopey politicians make dopey decisions like this.
Oh Shawn, you dopeCouldn’t have said it better. People just love AOC Twitter rants in the same way the right loves the Trump rant. It’s so sad that people don’t dig for the facts and just take Twitter to be their truth. Trump has the uneducated right supporters andAOC has the uneducated left.
No one, and no company, has any moral obligation to pay more taxes than they owe. Did you or any other commenters annoyed by the federal tax code pay more than you owe last year? Amazon is not to blame for paying what they owe. Congress made the laws. They deserve the blame.
you are not the only one welcome to the angry club
Get her outta here
#JustSayNoToSocialism
#KeepAmericaCapitalist
Yeah capitalism works great for this country. We should bail out the big banks at using taxpayer money again. Dumb libruls.
Gee thanks AOC for yet another blunder.
As a life long democrat, I find her just as annoying as Trump. Both parties have gone off the reservation.
She doesn’t brag about sexual assault, bend the knee to foreign influence, spend campaign funds to pay off the porn stars she cheated on her pregnant wife with, or pose as a figurehead for the fascist alt-right, so I’m giving her an edge over Trump.
I couldn’t agree more with you, this late comer think of herself as the Queen of Egypt, even she has not even started to create a track record….
If you knew what “off the reservation” meant and it’s history in oppression, you may have an idea of how idiotic and shallow you sound. Ironically, you choose to use a term that highlights the attrocities, to advocate for more of the same, a moderate, apologist path towards the continued oppression of people.
Too much infighting in our Democratic Party. Too many generals and not enough soldiers.
A typical arrogant Millennial lost in space.
It is shocking how little AOC actually understands and even more shocking is that she resorts to juvenile tactics to defend her positions. She is irresponsible, ill-informed and really should not be in government. AOC please educate yourself before saying and doing stupid things!
Yep. She’s been in office what.. several months ? And she’s already humiliated herself and her constituents. She comes from a position of pure ignorance. Her career is already over.
You don’t even realize how many jobs those 25,000 Amazon workers would bring to Queens. You need a laundromat, restaurants, movie theaters, bars, cafes, gyms. You’d have a client base of 25,000 plus all the other people in those businesses. It would have been a cash cow for NYC.
AOC couldn’t understand how tax incentives work, nevemind the the employment multiplier.
You know that stupid people don’t know they’re stupid, right?
she’s an idiot.
i want to see her plan to generate jobs and economic growth for the locals she claims to represent.
live in Long Island City, work in Manhattan, that has always been the Long Island city life. this allows us to sustain cheap rent while having the convince of being close to midtown manhattan.
She needs to go back to what she was doing 6 months ago, pulling the tops of bottles. Clearly way in above her head on economics.
AOC is an idiot. It’s TAX incentives. We can’t lose something we don’t already have. So what if Amazon get a huge tax break? We are getting SQUAT now Amazon ditched us. It’s like saying you rather not win the mega millions because you don’t want to pay millions in taxes to the government.
I will have to reconsider my voting stance after this. JVB should forget about running for Queens Borough President as he no longer has my vote. The grasssroot movement that got these officials elected can turn and play for the other side as well.
Your analogy is right on. It’s amazing how dumb Cortez is. No one this foolish can survive in NYC
Ah yes a socialist idiot who her PASOK minions in Astoria love and adore her. Hey!! moree do we start recycling urnie ??
What a bimbo. I never understood why republicans can’t shut up about her, now I get it. Make her the face of the democratic party and paint the entire opposition as dumbasses in one broad stroke. Great job Cortez- you just flipped that entire area republican. I am life long democrat- I am sure as hell not voting for these morons that last the amazon deal. Wasn’t even her district. WTF!
“anonymous captain” above is among the many misogynist posters here: i.e., condescending, insulting and abusive name callers–perhaps one man–a Russian? “What a bimbo” name calling, along with “mansplaining” economics. according to the selfish wealth for me, eviction and homelessness for you ethics.
It says a lot that those claiming sooo much more intelligence than a mere self-made success, a woman, appear the losers among these letter writers.
Sorry for dispencencing of niceties, if you are going to take the food off of my table and the clothes off of my kids back, then you should expect it. You live in a fantasy world, and are in for a rude awakening. I am originally from hudson county NJ, not russian, dumbass.
Amazon is gone partly due to the vocal minority who supported Gianaris, JVB and AOC’s opposition. I wonder if that same minority will now be just as vocal about holding these elected officials accountable for making the infrastructure improvements we desperately need. You scuttled an opportunity to bring in substantial new tax revenue to make those things happen. I want to know what the plan is now. What is the new plan that you will now endorse? What proposals do you have to fund improvements in the area? Will you be just as vocal about bringing about positive change in the neighborhood? How do we move forward from here in a positive way? We would love to hear from you.
I am a liberal, and so I generally like AOC. But I have to admit I am having trouble understanding her logic or where she is getting her information. If she understands how tax incentives work, why did she tweet something that made it seem otherwise? And I’m sorry, but turning it into a female minority issue seems a bit like an over-reach/cover-up. Quite frankly, I’m sick of her playing the female minority card so much. The issue at hand are the merits of the deal, not her.
Also, she accuses the city/state of doing this deal “without any advance notice or input” from the community. But on the same token, did she get any input from the community? Or give advance warning to us before she railed publicly against this deal? I live within 2 blocks of Anable Basin – neither I, nor any of my neighbors got a call from her, Gainaris, or JVB asking for our thoughts. Had they done so, they would have found that an overwhelming majority of us were for the deal.
Did you call Ginairis, JVB, or anyone to voice your thoughts on the deal? To answer your question, yes, the people who didn’t want Amazon did give their input. If there were so many people in favor of the deal, why didn’t they press their representatives the way the opposition did? You can’t do nothing then get angry if you don’t like the outcome.
I signed a public petition. I sent an email to JVB. But more importantly, there were multiple polls showing a majority of the community were for the deal. This is hugely important! The numbers speak for themselves and that’s more important than a Tuesday afternoon rally where 35 unemployed people show up to rant.
And anecdotally speaking, in forums such as this one, it is quite clear that a majority of the people were for the deal.
Gianaris, JVB and AOC either ignored what the community really wanted or were ignorant of what the community wanted. I don’t know which is worse.
As a matter of fact, I did call the office of all the politicos involved objecting to the Amazon deal. I wrote several emails (BTW there was no email option for AOC) in support of the deal to the politicos objecting to the deal. While all of these politicians cited the number of people contacting them that were against the deal, NONE ever once mentioned the number of people who contacted them in favor of the deal. Talk about distorting public opinion; they took a page out of the tRump play book.
I also live within a few blocks of Anable Basin and supported the deal. I signed a petition in support, and I also sent a very personal (and courteous) message to Giannaris, whom I voted for. He did not reply. No response at all.
Okay here is the summary of the last 6 months:
NY: Amazon, I am going to give you $50 cash. In return you are going to give me $3000 in 15 years.
Amazon: No way too much!
NY: You know what I will also throw another $300 as a brake. So pay me $2700 instead.
Amazon: Okay I will do it.
Business Minded People: Wow such a great deal.
Politicians: Incentives are too much. Use the $300 to fix the subway system. Other people join me, this $300 could be used for YOU.
Business Minded People: THERE IS NO $300. Stop what you are doing and don’t lie to people. This is a good deal. Let it be.
Others: NO TO AMAZON, use the $300 to fix the infrastructure.
Business Minded People: Please, there is no $300, it is a brake from $3000. If there is no Amazon, there is no money.
Others: You don’t represent LIC, I DO. NO TO AMAZON.
Business Minded People: But, this is good for you. You and your children will get higher paying jobs. Also, THERE IS NO $300 if there is no AMAZON.
Amazon: Although I am the biggest tech company in the world. I am offended like an average millennium and I am out. Bye all! c ya!
Business Minded People: NOO! GOD NO PLEASE. COME ON. Come back.
Politicians: WE WON!
Others: YAY! Okay let’s use the $300 for infrastructure now.
Politicians: Hmm, about that, there is no $300. We never said there is. We only have $50 and we will build a Library with it, which might be completed in 2045, in the most prime spot in LIC waterfront. Go LIC….
You left out the best part: without amazon as an economic engine for the neighborhood, we’ll get more luxury residential towers instead, full of Manhattan commuters. The infrastructure will get even more strained, there will be no jobs or tax revenues from an ongoing business juggernaut to pay for improvements, and LIC will well and truly settle into Jersey City. A bedroom community full of people who aren’t invested in the neighborhood. That’s your alternative. That’s what we’re getting.
Amazon was short-sighted too, to be fair. They really, really should have given a few million bucks to the local politicians in order to pass friendlier as-of-right laws (as real estate developers have done over the last 20 years to get zoning and related real estate-friendly changes through).
Congratulations to the #conservativeprogressives who stopped this deal, set their cause back in a significant way, and robbed the area of its only real chance to improve.
The idiot fights back. She is the product of a give away – she moved to Westchester County for better schools because her parents understood that the public schools in NYC suck. Now she comes back to preach equality, inclusiveness, diversity? AOC, Bill DiBlasio, Jimmy Van Bramer, Michael Gianaris and Corey Johnson who fought against Amazon coming to LIC/NYC must go. We must take back the Democratic party. Kathy Nolan appears to be the only standing who has any sense.
DiBlasio wasn’t against this deal. He just didn’t defend it well when progressives attacked it. He probably thought the deal was going to go through and didn’t want to spend the political capital defending it. But yes, AOC, Van Bramer, Giaranris and Johnson must go. Take back the Democratic Party or else Trump is going to cruise to victory in 2020. AOC and her goons aren’t bringing swing votes to the Democratic Party.
You know Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez messed up when another socialist democrat like De Blasio can’t even understand her math.
The Democrats finally have full control of NY state and city politics (house, senate, governor, mayor) and now we have to deal with this cr*p. Unreal!!!
She obviously realized she misspoke, and is now trying to make up for it. Her core base will overlook it because she is young and new to this. However, Gianaris and Bramer have no excuse. They were both well aware of the different incentive programs used to attract jobs into the outer boroughs.
AOC will survive.
Gianaris and Bramer are toast!
Caroline Maloney and our Mayor paint over the trauma to a community including total lack of planning and infrastructure. Schools…in the works, by the by. Transporation; not a penny given by Amazon to help our groaning #7 train.
Seattle struggled with Amazon and lost to tax the company to assist in paying to rehouse the homeless evicted by soaring rents and, costs. Amazon is and was an irresponsible corporate citizen, unwilling to benefit no one but itself.
Zoning for light industrail use, broken. Seizing a Department of Education building that is the supply and training hub for all of NYC’s schools: this does not bother the Mayor and his ilk. We should remember the callous disregard, and willingness to throw people in the street, these individuals display. Value “jobs” indeed.
Google and Facebook created jobs in spaces that created, rented or otherwise, in Mahattan. Like good corporate citzens, they didn’t demand having a chunk of the City, with their own loud helicopter and dedicated landing pad to remind everyone in western Queens how “lucky” they are.
They weren’t full of bloated self importance.
AOC is an idiot who got lucky based on her Twitter feed. She clearly does not understand much about government, taxation, or finance unless it is a protest slogan. (Hint: the budget is more complex than a coffee shop cash drawer). My money is on her being sidelined by the adults in the room by mid summer.
Keep dreaming , boomer.
Go buy a car you can’t afford on your kids future
She understand more than you and is smarter than you. It sounds like you’re one of those douchebags who are intimidated by a women with power ?
Frank, she’s not an idiot. You can disagree with her, but she’s absolutely not an idiot. While there is no question that Amazon building their headquarters in NYC would have had many benefits, AOC is pointing out the negatives that no one seems to be addressing. $150,000 a year jobs … for who? Not the people who live in that community. This deal would have pushed the community out of their homes by driving up apartment prices and overpopulating the area. People who earn $40,000 – $90,000 have less and less options in NYC these days as areas are constantly getting overtaken by large corporations. I’m not arguing against the benefits and I don’t know what the right answer should have been, but I find it frustrating that both the local government and Amazon both didn’t feel it necessary to address this very legitimate concern. AOC is the only one bringing this up.
So by not supporting Amazon what did she accomplish. It was a 10 year plan giving the offspring of many of us the opportunity to apply for one of those $100,000 + Amazon direct jobs ore indirect jobs.
Stupid is as stupid does